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Home » Flight Attendant » Why Flight Attendants Prefer to Work in Economy Over First Class
Flight Attendant

Why Flight Attendants Prefer to Work in Economy Over First Class

Matthew Klint Posted onFebruary 24, 2017February 24, 2017 6 Comments

United FA

“I once had a forty-something male passenger who said he was a picky eater and asked me to remove the almonds from his mixed nuts, the shaved Parmesan from his salad and the cilantro from his tabouleh.”

That’s from the mouth of a FA and explains — in a nutshell — why many FAs prefer to serve 100 in economy over 10 in first class.

Think about it. In economy you serve drinks, serve meals, collect meals, serve coffee/tea, then turn the lights out. On a longhaul flight, you’re done for several hours unless you get stuck with making water runs or doing duty free sales.

But in business or first class – especially on a carrier that prides itself in great service or has an on-demand a la carte dining menu – you do not get a break. You need to ensure that glasses are full and that passengers are well looked after.

Of course we are speaking in generalities. We know that crews have mandatory rest time on longhaul flights so it is not like first class attendants are hopping around for an entire 12hr flight. Furthermore, we see crews take turns working in various cabins. While the two FAs serving first class are on break, two from economy might be brought in to fill in.

Still, Premium Cabin Are Hard Work

Don't you love this picture? I remember downloading it from the America West website over a decade ago.
Don’t you love this picture? I remember downloading it from the America West website over a decade ago.

But the point remains — premium cabin passengers depend to be higher maintenance than economy and thus is it understandable that FAs would prefer to work in the back rather than the front.

I’ve talked to a number of FAs over the years and heard this over and over. And yet, perhaps out of boredom or good work ethic, you still see very veteran FAs (at least on U.S. airlines) in the front rather than the back. On my last FRA-SFO flight one of the FAs must have been pushing 90. No, seriously. But she was great.

It all depends. A friend who works for Emirates tells me he stays away from economy on flights to America because the passengers think they are entitled to first class service.

And many FAs hate working in premium cabins on routes to Los Angeles–

Everyone on the plane to LAX airport is a princess and deserves to be treated like a celebrity – in their own minds.

Surely, I can relate have seen this…

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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6 Comments

  1. Henry LAX Reply
    February 24, 2017 at 9:15 am

    My CX FA told me Econ is easy because it’s like a pipeline, true 3-class international first is also easy since those are usually very well traveled folks who just want a good nap and aren’t demanding.

    In his opinion, the worst is J where a bunch of folks are so eager to sample everything on the menu.

  2. Tony Reply
    February 24, 2017 at 9:44 am

    i agree with this. I’ve seen the rudest people on the planet fly first class. Its almost as if being a douche is a prerequisite for flying first class. Rarely do i ever hear a please or thank you when a FA hands people stuff, and oh so often do i see FAs reach over to get a tray from the window seat and struggle cuz the passenger is too snobby to grab the tray for them.

  3. AlohaDaveKennedy Reply
    February 24, 2017 at 11:07 am

    Ah – the first class cabin where the food and whine is plentiful.

  4. Jason Reply
    February 24, 2017 at 1:08 pm

    “On my last FRA-SFO flight one of the FAs must have been pushing 90. ”
    I was on an AA flight last year where the FA was an elderly gentleman who was frail and walked sluggishly. His hand sometimes shook and he was even touching the food with his bare hands! It was sad to see that an elderly person like this still had to work and was not able to retire.
    On the flip side, he was in no shape to help passengers in the event of an emergency. I wish US airlines could impose a mandatory physical test requirement beyond just being able to walk and breathe. He should be given a desk job in the shape that he was in.

  5. FLL Reply
    February 24, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    @Henry

    Yup, my CX FAs told me the same. Also they said the worst offenders were the op-upped folks.

    We probably are the easiest to take care of in their F cabins because we are HKGers and fly the product many times. That has a small draw back though – the atmosphere could become too casual, especially when if there were only us in the F cabin. Hard to find the balance though.

  6. Jamie Reply
    February 24, 2017 at 10:38 pm

    I once flew LH first class (thanks to Matthew) from MUC to IAD. There were 3 people in the cabin – me, my wife and another lady. Brand new plane – they announced it was the first flight of that aircraft. The lady bitched and complained the whole flight even though we basically had one on one service from the crew. I was embarrassed for the crew. I thought the flight was wonderful and could not understand the bitch who complained.

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